The American Jewish Year Book (AJYB)

The American Jewish Year Book (AJYB) is an often overlooked
resource for Jewish genealogical research. This annual publication
first appeared in September 1899, under the auspices of the Jewish
Publication Society of America. In 1908 the American Jewish Committee
(AJC) took over compilation of the volume and since 1994 has been its
sole publisher.

As its name implies, AJYB is a review of the year's events relating
to Jewish matters in America and other countries. The "mix" of material
in each volume has varied through the years, but certain features have
remained constant, chiefly the directories of organizations and
periodicals, obituaries, calendars, and Jewish population estimates,
both U.S. and world. The earliest volumes carried lists of synagogues
and local Jewish organizations, with names of officers. As the Jewish
community grew, this extensive roster became impractical.

The more recent volumes list only national organizations (over 400),
including national religious bodies (but not individual synagogues).
Recent volumes tend to feature articles of a sociological nature, e.g.,
"Jewish Organizational Life in the United States Since 1945," or
"Soviet Jews in the United States." Each volume carries a lengthy
report on developments in Israel, as well as shorter reports on Jewish
life in various countries and the United States. Here are a few
examples of the kinds of information one can find, chosen randomly
from earlier editions:

Jews in the US Army and Navy (some WWI statistics)

Biographical sketches of Rabbis and Cantors officiating
in the US 5664/1903 (85 pages)

Biographical sketches of Jews prominent in the professions
in the US, 5666/1905 (over 160 pages)

A table of pogroms from 1903-1906, 5667/1906 (55 pages)

Directories of national and local organizations

Jewish immigration statistics

The articles are extensive and informative, and obviously earlier
editions continue to have great reference value. A Cumulative
Subject Index, published in 1959, covers volumes 1-50.
Each subsequent volume contains a name index only.

Cumulative Index of Obituaries

The AJC has recently compiled a "Cumulative Index of Obituaries" from
volumes 51-96 of this highly regarded reference work. The obituaries
are mostly "Who's Who" type entries of varying length. Over the
years, a small number of full obituary articles have been published
about particularly outstanding figures.

Through the cooperative efforts of The American Jewish Committee
and JewishGen, names of over 3000 notable Jews who
died between 1948 and 1994 can now be accessed in this searchable
database. Search the name and find the AJYB volume number
and page reference.

Each entry in the Index contains the Surname, Given Name, Year
of Death, and Volume/Page Numbers. Full articles are marked by an (*)
asterisk in the Volume column.

The publishers of AJYB and/or JewishGen have no additional
information on individuals listed in this database. You are advised
to locate and research the referenced volumes of the AJYB.

Where to obtain desired volumes

There are a great many libraries in the U.S. and Canada, both public
and university, that may have complete sets of the AJYB. Major
Jewish institutions -- Hebrew Union College, Jewish Theological Seminary,
Brandeis U., etc.-- certainly have them. In addition to these libraries,
there are also many synagogues, JCCs, Jewish schools, etc., that collect
the AJYB. Be sure to check library catalogs for all sites.

The current edition of The American Jewish Year Book (annual)
is sold by the American Jewish Committee in New York. It can be ordered
from the AJC by calling 800-551-3252, or on the AJC's Web site
http://www.ajc.org.

Bibliography

American Jewish Year Book. New York: American Jewish
Committee, 1994-.

American Jewish Committee (eds.) American Jewish Year Book.
New York: American Jewish Committee and Jewish Publication Society,
1950-1993.